The CHEST Foundation

View the current
competition

View the 2008
Competition

The CHEST Foundation and the Kellogg School of Management
Case Competition 2009

Winning Team Announced on May 12, 2009. Learn More about the awards presentation and winning team.



	Case Competition Benefits for Students Open to all NWU graduate students Each team must include at least one Kellogg School of Management student $20,000 in awards available Class credit available for GIM trips Network with influential officials Teams judged by a distinguished panel of judges Winning business plan may be implemented by The CHEST Foundation Gain experience in developing an international health-care project Have a lasting, positive social impact on developing nations

Smoking is on the decline in developed countries leading to improvements in life expectancy and quality of life.¹ In contrast, rates of smoking have increased dramatically in some developing nations; for example, since 1972, per capita smoking rates in China have increased more than fourfold. Each day, over 15 billion cigarettes are consumed worldwide.² Experts warn that smoking will kill 1 billion people worldwide in the 21st century, largely in the developing world.³

Decreased smoking rates in developed countries are the result of many different approaches, including bans on public smoking, increased taxes, and social stigma. Some businesses require smokers to pay more for insurance, and a few have even contemplated refusing to hire smokers. Whether such strategies are appropriate or even possible for developing nations is an open question.

Tobacco consumption. www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/47/37964820.pdf. Accessed December 29, 2008
Cigarette consumption. www.who.int/tobacco/en/atlas8.pdf. Accessed December 29, 2008
Smoking projected to kill one billion people in 21st century, say panelists, as developing world targeted. www.hsph.harvard.edu/now/nov10/tobacco.html. Accessed December 29, 2008

The Competition

The Carol and Larry Levy Social Entrepreneurship Lab and the Health Industry Management Program at Kellogg are partnering with The CHEST Foundation to sponsor a competition to promote the development of practical business models that will mitigate the negative impact of smoking in developing nations. The competition is open to teams of students currently enrolled at Northwestern University. Each team must include at least one student who is enrolled in the Kellogg School of Management. The competition will be judged by a panel of distinguished judges and will conclude in mid-May 2009. At the conclusion of the competition, two teams will be selected as finalists and will give featured presentations at an awards dinner that will be attended by the judges, along with leaders from The CHEST Foundation, business, and government. At the conclusion of the dinner, the panel of judges will decide on a winner and a runner-up. The winning team will receive $15,000 and the runner-up, $5,000.

Each team will be assigned an advisor on behalf of The CHEST Foundation who will provide counsel on the proposals, as needed. These advisors are experienced professionals from the health-care industry and social enterprise whose insights will enrich the quality of the proposals and provide participants with additional knowledge on the subject area.

Groups or individuals interested in competing can register by e-mail with Jamie Jones at jjones2009@kellogg.northwestern.edu by January 14, 2009. Provide the names and contact information for all group members at that time.